To Control Thoughts and Wills
by CryoTemporal
Summary: "Thousands of years ago, the Neurax Worm could control other creatures, but they were unable to spread until now, when I found this one. Not even I know the limits of the Neurax's power. It will keep evolving, until they can reclaim the earth that's rightfully theirs." The strange man said, predicting the end...
1. Day 0

Thousands of years ago. The world was inhabited by humans, just as we see right now. However, it was much different.

Evolved apes that were skinless and unable to survive in the cold, just as they discovered fire they were able to keep themselves warm. By then they needn't fur like other animals, they needn't claws to hunt, they needn't a great sense of smell to know where their prey was. All these factors helped them to gain a powerful mind, just to replace all the things they wouldn't need anymore.

Thus, with their creativity, they created. From houses, buildings, weapons, everything nature couldn't give them, or better said, they didn't want. Human's mind was a fearsome power, and they kept expanding onto the lands, modifying Earth just as he wanted.

But then, it didn't mean that humans were the only living creatures on Earth. From dogs to sharks to eagles to spiders, and among all of them, were the bacteria. Bacteria that, in order to survive, have to infect other creatures. This is what we call a disease.

However, no one ever knew of a disease that could control the human's mind, their thoughts, and their wills. Such a thing could not exist in nature, for every creature has its own brain and own mind, they take control of their actions.

But, just as thousands of years ago the humans were struggling with the cold harsh ice ages, were also the microscopic organisms. Most of them thawed after the cold ended, and most of those died and extinguished. However, who knows if there aren't any more frozen out there.

Out of nowhere, a young microbiologist, he might be, was inspecting the most frozen lands in the world. The team was experimenting, seeing how well microorganisms would survive in extreme temperatures, and they kept travelling all around the world.

The young man, who would be somewhere around his late twenty two years, decided to take a patch of ice or snow with him whenever he went. He said that he wanted to keep them and study how different were the snowflakes in different countries. His teammates were confused at first, but they knew that this man was, though brilliant, not very rational, and so they didn't pay much attention to it.

In one of their travels to Greenland, he saw on a glacier a patch of yellow. Not very noticeable at first glance, but since he was cutting some ice to take home, he was able to look at it perfectly. It wasn't too big, but not extremely small either. So far it looked like a yellow worm, without too many features.

He was rather curious, but his team had so much work to do that he couldn't inspect it right away. Instead, he decided that he would take it home with him; after all, his teammates didn't care.

* * *

><p>In a lone apartment he lived, away from most people. The place was calm, silent; perfect to read and study. His curiosity was big, for the first thing he examined was the frozen creature he found on the glacier.<p>

He left it under the sunlight to thaw it, because doing otherwise could hurt the worm, and make him unable to examine it. He kept looking at it for hours, without even caring about food or sleep or exhaustion. He just wanted to know what kind of living being this was, since something frozen to him meant something ancient, a whole new discovery.

Hours went on, and a little part of the worm's head was thawed out. After more time, its whole head was thawed, but it wasn't moving.

So night came, and the ice was halfway there from being completely unfrozen. But there was no heat left, and using fire was too risky. He had hopes the creature might be alive, just as some creatures survive frozen solid. At the end he gave up, as he realized he had no ways to thaw the worm without harming it. He decided to wait for the next day and, as he woke up, he found it lying there, on his window, without making a single movement. It looked dead indeed.

He wouldn't give up anyway, for he had to know what kind of creature this one was. Was it from the ancient times, before man reached land, or was it an uninteresting recent worm that everyone knew of?

He began examining it with microscopes, mostly; taking out small parts of its tissue and examining it himself, since he didn't want anyone's help with his discovery. After all, those people had rejected him. Those people had fired him from his only job, abandoned him into nothing. This discovery would be his alone, and he would be recognized and respected by the world, by even the authorities.

While investigation obviously took some very long months, he was intelligent enough to overcome it. He kept the creature barely frozen inside his fridge, so bacteria and insects wouldn't ruin it. Then at an early hour he would leave it a few hours in the sunlight, and after that he would begin to work on it again.

There was a certain breaking point in his investigation. He was just staring at it, trying to remember whether this worm was some creature he already knew of or not. And then, he noticed, just barely, a slight movement of its head. While some people might believe it was their imagination, he kept telling himself that it wasn't, that the creature actually moved its head slightly to the right, that the creature was alive and it was not the wind or anything. So at the time, he tried stimulating it, so it would move again. It took him at least fifty attempts, for he already decided that he wouldn't give up.

_Respect. Recognition._

At the last, he poked the creature from behind with a stick. With his frustration, he left a few marks on the creature, and even if he tried not to harm it, his anger made him injure the creature badly, to which it responded by instinct, trying to flee. At last, he thought, seeing the slow movements of the worm. Now, he would be able to study it as a life being.

* * *

><p>Months went on. The creature had grown a little, but looked even less than a regular worm. On his studies, the young man managed to understand a little what this creature was. He bought a rat to make experiments, and he determined that this worm was harmless, but it fed on other creature's organisms. As soon as the rat died of old age, he opened it to see where exactly the worm was. His surprise began when he found it, small, still feeding on the rat's brain.<p>

"So, little guy… you attack the most vital part of a living being…"

The worm on the rat's brain was one of the original worm's copies, or to understand it better, its _offspring_. He kept trying, with dying animals, infecting them with the worm. All with the same result: they didn't have any symptoms, but the worm was always feeding of their brains.

For a few days, he didn't want to do anything more but think. Think, about his discovery, the worm, the animals. His life, his job, his family. Everything that left him behind, everyone who laughed at him, everywhere he was not accepted. Everything the world's been through, everything the world survived. Everything humanity created, everything humanity destroyed; human's cruelty against other species, their cruelty against their own species, the sadness of living in this world.

A scream was heard. He was startled at the sound of his own raging voice, but it made him free. His thoughts were consuming him, and now he knew how wrong the world was. In his short life he never even saw real justice, but now Mother Nature has given him something.

Humanity has survived for too long causing pain. Now it's their time to pay.

He gave a quick glance to the Neurax Worm—as he called it—and remembered all the artifacts he had from his previous and only job. He was able to manipulate it. He could control it. He could make them fear the Neurax Worm, make it dangerous, make it lethal, make it kill; make it control human's mind.

_Respect. Recognition. **Fear.**_

He already had a way to control its evolution, but the Neurax couldn't be discovered just yet. Not with all the technology out there, threatening to kill it after it infected its first human. No, he needed something less noticeable. The rats and the other animals he tested didn't have any symptoms; they all died of old age or another disease. It was perfect to make it infect the world, before they can even know they've been infected.

That's all he had to do. No more cruelty on the world; the future was filled with sorrow. But now it can be like the first times, when the humans weren't fully evolved, when they weren't evolved at all. When they didn't need to kill each other, harm each other, and laugh at each other. A utopia, in which he would feel no pain anymore.

_ A Neurax Worm, undiscovered for thousands of years. Humans have entered its natural habitat, and given it the means to spread..._

** How long until the humans face extinction?**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's notes: <strong>One of the few Plague Inc fanfics. I was inspired by the Neurax Worm's theme from Plague Inc.: Evolved, so I feel this is more fitting to read with that on the background.

I'm planing to continue this until the end, and I hope you enjoy reading it as well.

(And sorry for the slow chapter, I can't make a story without telling the beginning, after all, can I?)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Next chapter, should be the real beginning.


	2. It cannot reply

**Phew! I meant to update sooner, but it seems that you can't update from a mobile, not even with the desktop option. But here it is!**

**Don't you love fillers?**

* * *

><p>A young woman was at the airport, waiting for one of her friends to arrive. She was from the UK, and lived in a fancy house with her parents. Her friend was from the USA, but for a few days she decided to work in the UK and live with them, for some reason.<p>

The place was crowded, and everyone looked busy, but at the same time it looked elegant and clean.

"There you are!" Said the girl that just arrived, screaming cheerfully. She was a little taller than the other. "I thought you got lost on a plane or something. Where were you?"

"That's what _I_ should be asking _you_! I've been looking everywhere, but it was getting late so I decided to wait here."

"Oooh, but maybe you were with a... boy?!" She smirked mockingly, nudging her friend.

"Of course not!" She giggled. "After all, looking for my grandparents isn't exactly what you would call _looking for a boyfriend_."

They both laughed, and then they walked away chatting to each other and laughing so loudly it was hard to believe nobody yelled at them.

However, a single figure was looking at them, suspiciously. He was a tall man with a grey hood, and he was just standing there in silence. When the girls almost got out of his view, he walked to them and stopped them, taking out his hood quickly. He wondered why he was using it in the first place.

"Hey you, young ladies." He said. "I want to ask you something."

"Uhm, us?" One of them said, turning around. The other followed. "Yeah, what do you need?"

"I need you to taste this." He took out a small bottle out of his pocket. "It's, uhm, it should be a delicious beverage, but I need someone to tell me how it tastes first."

The girls looked at each other, suspiciously. The taller one turned her face to the man and nodded.

"Sure, why not! If it's to help a new beverage, I can do it. Then we can go out and ask for more things instead of just tea, right?" She looked at her friend, who was just staring at them confused.

The man handed her the bottle, to which the girl began gulping. After a while, she stopped.

"Huh?" She exclaimed, raising the bottle to her eyes. "But, mister, I think this is just water."

"It is?" The man said, looking confused. "But I was sure I put a lot of juice this time. Oh, I guess it didn't work. Sorry, we'll fix it next time."

The young girl looked confused.

"Didn't you taste it before?" She asked with a look of unhidden curiosity. Her friend was almost feeling suspicion right now.

"No." He replied quickly. "We can't taste the product, our prejudice would get in the way. Most of the employees think that the beverage is fine and could easily get in the market, but we need people's opinions first." The man said as he's been expecting that question. The girl seemed satisfied with the reply, though her friend was still doubtful. She asked once more.

"Are you sure this isn't just water and that there isn't anything strange about it?"

"You can trust me." He reassured her. "It might take its time before we can fully create a delicious beverage, but in a few years we'll get there, I'm sure of it."

The girl wasn't so sure, but she didn't ask any more questions. "If that's all, allow me to leave. Thank you so much for your cooperation, I'm very grateful."

They both replied with a "you're welcome", one cheerful, one quiet, and left the scene before the man could turn away.

Let's stop hiding their names for a second; after all, they're already part of the story. The taller girl's name, the one who tasted the water-like beverage, was Caroline. She's really cheerful and easygoing, and has no trouble talking to strangers, something easily deduced by her behavior. Her unnatural ginger hair and informal clothes made huge contrast with the other girl.

Her friend's name was Sharon, and while she was almost as easygoing as Caroline, she knew well not to trust in strangers, especially when they give you something to taste. She was being more formal with her clothes, in contrast to Caroline's colorful image. Caroline asked her when they met at the airport why was she being so formal, if she was just going to meet her grandparents.

"I'm sure they'll do the same." Was her answer.

Finally they caught sight of Sharon's grandparents. Just as she predicted, her grandfather was wearing a tuxedo, black pants and a tie. Her grandmother was wearing an elegant long dress. They looked like they were in a wedding or something.

"They just like being like that" Sharon shrugged. "You know, they are pretty old-school."

At the same time, someone was watching into the distance. It was the man who gave Caroline the water.  
>"These old people won't do..." He mumbled to himself. "I need younger people, or you can't feed... can you, Neurax?" He glanced at them with a look of hatred. "Bragging about themselves... and thinking they're better than everyone else. Those three are just like everyone else actually, luckily enough they were able to have something to brag about."<p>

* * *

><p>Back at his apartment, he sat down in front of his computer, or what looked like twelve computers, as he had various monitors connected.<p>

Each one of them had a black screen, only the first one showed images of the airport he just was in. Many people greeting each other, hugging each other and smiling at the sight of someone else. Looking at them like that, humans didn't look as bad as he thought, however, he knew that on the inside everyone is potentially cruel.

"I might need a name to show myself to them sooner or later." He spoke to the worm he kept inside a transparent cylinder, with a lot of cables connected from various spots of the worm's body to his computers. It was just as he wanted to control it through that.

And in fact, that's what he did. He discovered a way to control the worm by modifying its DNA, its organs and its skin. That way, he could make it withstand the harshest weathers of the countries it wasn't used to.

Now, to control its offspring wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. When he began testing the Alpha Neurax Worm (that's how he decided to call it, though sometimes he called it Progenitor Neurax), he noticed that every evolution had an effect on the other worms.

"We're lucky, aren't we...?"

The worm didn't reply. It can't reply.

"So what do you think would be a good name for when I announce you to the world?" The worm didn't reply. "I was thinking about using your name. After all, I found you, I'm creating you." He stared at the unmoving worm for a few seconds. "You're right," he said at last, as if he heard the worm replying, "that would be confusing as hell. What if I call myself Rax? Uhm... no, that sounds bad."

He sighed, then stood up and looked through the window. The sunlight almost blinded him, mostly because he tended to have the whole apartment away from the heat. The Neurax was found inside a glacier, so it would be reasonable to think that it feels better in cold places. Or at least that's what the man thought. "Are you going to infect everyone? I mean, every person, in every country?" He glanced back at the worm. It didn't reply. "Ah, I see... though infecting them was my idea in the first place." He returned his gaze to the window, and blinked a few times to get used to the warm light of the sun. At the end, he realized that it was too annoying. He closed the curtains, and stared at them just as he was looking at the outside world. "We need you to evolve fast, so you can survive in hotter places." He turned his head to the worm, a look of hatred and disappointment on his face. "You're completely useless right now. Look at us, humans, living, surviving in every kind of climate. And you. You die with a single rise of temperature. What would you be without me?" He didn't wait for a reply. Who was there to reply in the first place? "Frozen. Still on that glacier, without any means to live. You would just cowardly be there, waiting for someone like me to bring you home, isn't that right?"

The worm didn't reply, but one would wonder if it actually wanted to.

The man calmed down. He was about to poke at the worm, just as he did days ago when he wanted it to move. Now he only wanted the Neurax to feel pain. However, when he realized that that would damage the Alpha and make it unable to evolve properly, he held back his anger and continued looking at the curtains for a few hours, in complete silence.

* * *

><p>"So, young Caroline, do you miss your life back in the USA?" The old woman asked, after swallowing a mouthful. They were having dinner back at Sharon's house, along with her parents and siblings, her grandparents and her friend, Caroline. With that many people, it's easy to imagine how wealthy they were, if they could support them daily.<p>

"Not so much right now," she admitted, "for some reason, there are a lot of rats. They're like a plague, almost every home has rat poison to keep them away, and rat extermination is being serious business." She explained, a little unsure whether she should have mentioned that while they were eating.

"Ah, I understand." Interrupted Sharon's grandfather. "I remember that time when we were plagued with pigeons. I never thought we would need to get rid of them, but they were bringing some ugly diseases at the time."

"Ugly diseases?" Sharon echoed, suddenly looking interested. "But was everyone alright?"

"Yes," he replied, "although it was quite annoying for some people. The good news is that the disease wasn't too lethal, so nobody had to die at that time."

A sigh of relief left Sharon's mouth, and she focused her attention to the meal in front of her.

"I'm sure everyone in your country is alright." He said to Caroline.

"I know, but the rats are appearing in everyone's houses out of nowhere. People with small children are getting worried."

"I understand that, dear." The grandmother said. "But don't worry, they'll leave before next month."

"You're right." Caroline returned to her usual cheerfulness. "And maybe I could return to my country after I quit my job here. They aren't doing so well it seems, and my salary is gradually decreasing."

"Well said. Though we'll miss you, but I hope you can get the best job you can get."

* * *

><p>"Neuren, I shall be Neuren for now." After hours of complete silence, the man jumped suddenly, and looked at the Neurax. "It won't be confusing, will it? I think." The man kept talking to the worm, completely sure that it was listening to him.<p>

"Now let's see if there's something I should know." Neuren got to his computers, and he opened a browser that showed itself on one of the monitors. He was looking for the news of the day.

The first headline was something about USA.

**Never-ending rat plague!**  
><em>Specialists have concluded that the rats spreading are not a threat at the moment. However, they'll keep investigating this matter further.<em>  
><em>As for the authorities, they declared that each family should deal with the issue at home. Rats will be kept alive for scientific experimentation, some will be given to other countries that might need them for research purposes. Hopefully, this will decrease the rat population and keep away all the diseases they might bring.<em>

Rats, huh... while it could be better to help Neurax spread, at the same time it would make the cure easier to find, if they ever research it. And after all, the worm hasn't infected anyone from America yet.

"We'll need a while, but you have to infect more people." He could look at the number of people alive in his monitors. The numbers changed every second, increasing and decreasing due to people dying and being born. In another corner, he could see the number of people infected. So far, it was just one.

Next to that counter was another number, the number 2._ What does this mean?_ He thought, staring at it. The letters DNA were written above the number, and while it should provide an answer, it only raised more questions.

In reality, the software he had in front of him was created by an anonymous person, _probably a scientist_ was his first thought. It wasn't created to control the Neurax. In fact it seemed to have been created to control other kinds of pathogens, viruses, bacteria. Maybe it was created as a cure for an incurable disease. But ironically right now it would be used to create the ultimate incurable one.

The point is that Neuren only modified an already created software with the little knowledge he achieved over the years. He then had an easier way to control the disease's symptoms, and the survivability of the Neurax. But for now, he only needed to see how would it spread. And it would take time before the worm infected its second host.  
>"But how will you do that, anyway? Through air, through physical contact, through blood contact? There's no way for you to spread unless they're careless enough to drink from the same glass of water."<p>

It could be easy for the worm to spread, it just needed a little carelessness from its hosts.

Sharon and Caroline where really close friends. However, Sharon was careful enough with her body, so she barely gets any diseases that are worse than a common cold. She never shares utensils, and when she does, she cleans them thoroughly. Some might say that she was a maniac, and that wouldn't be too farfetched.

Neuren couldn't have known that, as he randomly chose people in the airport that could infect someone else. His first option was a couple of young people, but they refused his offer for the water. They probably were right to do so, after all... wasn't that just simple water, infected with thousands, probably millions of the Neurax's offspring?  
>Caroline was careless. Because, right now, she is the first person to be infected with the future deadly illness that the Neurax would bring. And while it'll take time, it won't be long until it infects its second host.<p>

Neuren stared back at his computer. He wanted the Neurax to evolve right now; however, it seemed that it was unable to at the moment. Probably, it had something to do with the DNA counter. In order to infect more people in that country, it should evolve a drug resistance. Because medicine evolved with new diseases, and the Neurax lived for more than a thousand years. New drugs would make its survival harder, and it wouldn't be so easy to spread in wealthier countries.

"You're useless..." Neuren whispered to the worm. Once again, it didn't reply...


	3. You are useless

**Merry Christmas everyone! I guess I should update again before new year to celebrate (by that I mean the 4th chapter). Anyway, I hope you're having a good time and get a lot of presents! Here's mine for those who enjoy the story.**

**By the way, yes, I am using the game's descriptions and the amount of DNA points needed. I might make a few changes later, not sure yet.**

**Update (30/12): Forget what I said, I won't be able to update for a few weeks. Hopefully I'll get two or more chapters written by then.**

* * *

><p>Just as Neuren wished, the number of infections was slowly increasing in the UK. The way it happened was unknown to him, but he didn't care as long as it worked. Three days later the number of infections was somewhere around four, and it was increasing a little each hour. It was a few moments later when he realized that the DNA counter was increasing with the amount of people infected.<p>

It wasn't until the next weeks, when the infections reached almost thirty people, that he noticed that he would get less DNA when a certain amount was reached. Instead of getting one point per person, he would get one per five or ten people.

"I guess getting a billion would be too much, so this system was created this way...?"

For now, the worm would need more infectivity to evolve properly. If it didn't infect everyone yet, it would make no sense to kill people right now.

"So... how would you like to spread?" He asked the Neurax. Its reply was only heard inside his mind. "Are you sure? Wouldn't it be easier to infect a little more people first?" A few moments of silence followed, until he spoke again. "You're right. We won't get anywhere with all those pills and drugs out there. But you need more DNA first." He added looking at the monitors. "What about this? _'Concertina Locomotion'_... what does it mean? _'Faster movement outside host'_?" He looked at the Neurax, who was completely unmoving. "It says it increases infectivity, and it's only two DNA... I suppose there's nothing bad that could happen if I try."

Concertina Locomotion, ability to grip with portions of the body while pulling/pushing other sections allows faster movement outside host. That was Neurax's first step to becoming an infectious disease. An easy way to get to someone else's brain, without the need of them sharing glasses of water or anything.

"One problem out of the way, it seems..." Neuren sighed, relaxing his shoulders. "I just hope... that you don't get randomly detected by some doctor." He added turning his head to face the worm. While it was a step, he knew it wasn't enough yet.

* * *

><p>At one point in her life, after long months living with her friend, Caroline had decided to return to her country. One of her reasons was that she was about to get fired from her job.<p>

"But why are you going?" Sharon's brother asked, just after she announced her decision. The family used to have the most important conversations at dinner, and for someone unrelated, she really did follow their habits. "I mean, the rats are still there, aren't they?" He had been watching the news and probably chatting online with people from the USA. As far as he knew, they all complained about the same thing: the rat plague.

"It has stopped a little," she casually replied, "and I want to return. As much as I like this country, I'm afraid I don't belong here."

"What do you mean you don't, dear?" The oldest woman asked, before resuming to her meal. It was as she asked but didn't care about the answer.

"I..." Of course, being ignored by the one who asked was strange, "I miss that country, and all my friends there, that's all."

Nobody touched the rat subject again, and from that moment onward they only wished her a safe travel.

* * *

><p>"'Ability to propagate flexural waves along the length of worm allows an increase in speed and range outside host, increasing infectiousness', 'Worm can dehydrate to become lighter, allowing them to float on wind, increasing infectivity'." Neuren was reading Neurax's transmission traits out loud, trying to decide where to start. He evolved to <em>'Undulary Locomotion'<em> right away, only to see the more ways the Neurax could spread. "Okay, so... 'Water 1' helps you survive in the water, 'Air 1' helps you survive in the air..." He thought, out loud as well. The worm was propagating slowly, probably due to the drugs it can't withstand. He knew that they were just making things harder for the Progenitor's offspring. "I knew I had to infect poorer countries first!" Screaming suddenly, he declared. He then covered his mouth with both hands. "Damn it... they'll hear..."

He didn't have that many neighbours that could hear him talking, but he feared anyway that either them or people on the street could hear. If he's going to kill everyone with that biological weapon that is the worm, he thought, he had to make sure he didn't get noticed, or the outcome would be terrible.

He looked again at his screen.

"'Drugs 1'..." He read almost whispering, "what about this?" He took a slight glance at the worm, as if waiting for a reply. Few moments later he returned his attention to the screen. "But planes... are always leaving, though..." This time he was thinking again about the poorest countries.

He grabbed his head with both hands and looked down, completely upset. He began cursing under his breath, unable to decide what to do. For some reason, he knew that evolving to Drugs 1 would take a higher amount of DNA points, but he also wanted the worm to spread quickly through other countries. He didn't have enough to achieve both at the same time, so this decision, that would be really easy in fact, he found it as one of the hardest he ever made.

Once again, he looked at the worm, looking for answers.

"You can help me, right? Say something!" And for the first time, he faced the reality that the worm could never speak. "You..." he managed to say slowly, "are useless..."

* * *

><p>The airport was crowded as always. Many of the people there were hurrying, as one of the last planes was about to leave. The unceasing sound of running footsteps made everyone else agitated, and people who were just relaxing began to run with the rest of the population. Why were they so hurried, anyway? Well, the last planes were all heading to North America, more specifically United States. There was a huge event going on, as Apple$oft seemed about to make an amazing announcement. People all around the world were going to see it, though most of them just wanted to go because of the free holidays that the company offered to random people for just assisting. That and many giveaways they were going to make. It was amazing how many people were going to attend, and some would wonder if they actually were interested in the speeches they were going to give or the products they were going to show.<p>

Anyway, it was an important event for every country, so everyone wanted to attend to it. In the USA, there were some people being interviewed randomly at the street.

"We're here, walking on the streets of New York, a lovely day I must say, not a single cloud I the sky." One reporter was saying. He was being broadcasted live and possibly worldwide. "Here and there you can see people wearing t-shirts, eating a cold ice cream. Ah, how I wish I had one. Anyway, let's see if there is someone who isn't busy to answer our questions." While it might be possible that people at the studio were talking to him, to the people at the street it looked like he was talking alone.

He turned around and began looking in the small crowd that was forming. Many people were just chattering, they weren't hurried at all and, as the reporter said, they were mostly eating an ice cream or relaxing in a bench. A scene like this would scream 'summer holidays' right away, however that was not the case. It was just a warm Sunday, in the middle of autumn, and everyone just casually had the idea of relaxing outside instead of worrying about jobs or studies.

"You, sir!" The reporter said suddenly to a man walking by behind him. He must've been in his early forty years, but his pacing was slower than someone in their late sixty or seventy.

"Me?" He pointed at himself, walking to the reporter.

"Would you mind answering to some questions?"

"Sure." He tried to sound casual, but in fact he was excited for being reported.

"Do you know about the Apple$oft convention they're holding in two days?" The reporter asked, moving the microphone from his side to the man's side so it could be heard on TV.

"Yes, everyone's heard about it. I might be going too, I'm a big fan of their technology." He crossed his arms as to expecting to be assaulted with questions, which he did want to answer.

"Ah, I see! And what about the giveaways and the free holidays?"

"People still have to work, so I don't think..." He was still talking but the microphone moved to the reporter's lips, thus the man's voice was not heard.

"No, no," he interrupted, causing the man to stop talking, "the free holidays are for when you have free time."

"Are they?" He sounded genuinely surprised. "Then I guess I can participate too. Is it sorted or something?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess I'm excited for that as well. I was expecting to have one of the new phones in fact."

"And what do you think about the people from different countries that are coming?"

"Ah, this is the less crowded I've seen this street. I'll miss it." He began saying, looking around. "I just hope they don't bring any strange disease or something."

* * *

><p>"That's it!" Neuren jumped suddenly from his couch. He was watching the news, looking for answers as to his next movement. "The Apple$oft convention! They're all going, and once you are in USA, you can travel all around the world." He said addressing the worm.<p>

Under normal circumstances, Neuren should've known about the event. However, the Neurax took about his whole time, and he was completely disconnected from the outside world. The first days of trial and error made him unable to even watch the news, and he forgot that he had planned to go to that convention.

"I can't abandon my good pet here, can I? After all, he'll be lost without me." He couldn't remember the first time he addressed the Neurax as a _'he'_. Right now, it seemed almost like a person. "Then that's it. Air 1. Air 2. Become lighter, my little worm, and spread to the country of freedom."

He continued looking. A few DNA was left to spare. _It'll take time before we can get enough DNA to evolve a drug resistance..._ he thought, looking at the screen, _and while it's good to save, it's better to waste if you know it'll give you more later._ Reading out loud, he continued.

"'Eggs 1: The Neurax Worm produces eggs that are ejected from the host brain in the thousands, increasing infectivity', 'Eggs 2: Eggs hatch when they experience an increase in warmth, likely due to nearby human activity, greatly increasing infectivity'. I like what it says here,_ 'greatly increasing infectivity'_." He echoed his own words. "But you can't evolve yet, you just need a little more..." He looked at the DNA. Just one point was left, and the Neurax couldn't evolve to anything with it, except for symptoms. It just had to wait for the massive infection in the USA, and hope it would go as planned.

"But without drug resistance... can you do it?" He slumped to his chair, thinking. It was the first time he could have a break from all of it. For a second, he wanted to escape from the Neurax Worm and the future disease it would bring. But it was impossible, because it had already started. He thought about it; the world was cruel, cruel enough to deserve punishment, but was it up to _him_ to give punishment? Again, he took a glance at the Neurax Worm. It just lay there, limp, inside the cylinder. It didn't look deadly at all. In fact, he looked more like a normal living being, completely helpless, harmless, useless... and with only one thing on its mind: survival. Looking at it like this, it was impossible to imagine that it could cause a catastrophe of massive levels. It was so calm, and yet...

Neuren shook his head. _There's no turning back now..._ He thought looking at the ceiling. _The end of this world cannot be stopped._ "I will help you, Neurax Worm, to bring a new age for you. But as for you, do not fail me."


	4. New Year's Gift

**Whew! Back at home. If you've read the update in the last chapter, you'll know why I took so long. (To be fair I forgot what I wrote there so nvm).**

**Anyway, while on my holidays, I managed to write until chapter 7 and the beginning of chapter 8. I'm still not sure if I'll merge two or upload them as they are, but I'm gonna take some few minutes to edit them before updating.**

**Aaanyway, hope you've enjoyed this new year. I'm pretty sure people in _this _universe won't. (And I'm so excited for a new album from my favourite band coming next week. I just felt the need to say it).**

**No more delays, here you go.**

* * *

><p>"Hello everyone, and welcome!"<p>

The place was fully illuminated. With a round ceiling and spider lamps all over the place, light blue walls and an excited crowd, and above all of it, a DJ broadcasting electro music, probably to lighten the mood. This was, in fact, the Apple$oft convention.  
>Most people were wearing fancy clothes, as they used to do in big events like this one. They all were standing in front of a platform, and in the middle of it was a man dressed in black, speaking through a microphone.<p>

This guy was the famous Gill Bates, a successful businessman who focuses mostly in releasing tablets and mobile phones to the public, but his technology was higher above those of other companies, creating something new once every year, something that people couldn't have imagined but were still wonderful invents.

At some point in his life, he's been declared to be the world's richest person, and that probably wasn't an exaggeration. While his products were high in price, there were many people who would buy them, out of curiosity or need.

Having so much money to waste was probably one of the reasons of so many giveaways. That and to make sure that many people assisted. By the looks of it, it worked perfectly fine, since not everyone could get seats or good spots to see. And it was not because the place was too small.

"I hope you're comfortable down there. Do those on the back hear me?" Most people on the front nodded with cheers. But nobody could see the people standing in the back. "I think I know why you are all here. It's because of the free holidays and the products we're going to give. I really hope some of you are here for the announcement."

A few people laughed. He didn't know why, because he didn't tell any jokes, but it helped to make people laugh, so he smiled as well.

"I see you're all fancy today. What, is there a party or something?" Again, a few laughs from the audience. He waited for them to cease and continued. "But let's get to the point, shall we? You all know about the big announcement I am going to make, but let's not rush things. For those who don't really know, I could tell you about the history of Apple$oft. It all began in..."

From there onwards he wasn't even listening. Neuren was standing in the back, hidden in the shadows with a group of people. The rest of them were trying to listen to the explanation, but as for him, he was scanning the crowd, looking for people to infect. In case that no one takes the Neurax to the USA, he'd need a backup plan to get there, or so he thought.

When he was at his apartment, just after watching the news, he scratched his head and looked again at the worm.

"I'm still not sure... no, wait, I am sure. No... argh!" He grabbed his head once again. For some reason he was hesitant, and his doubts were consuming his thoughts. The plan to infect everyone stressed him to no end, and he realized that in order to make it work, he needed to calm down.

At one point he left the Neurax alone and went to buy some pills. At the time he thought that anything would work so he didn't actually see what he was taking. Just when he was waiting on the line he heard two people talking to each other. The first word that he recalled hearing was "Apple$oft". He paid more attention to it.

"What's that thing?" It seemed an old woman, not really interested in new technologies.

"It's a convention. They'll sort a lot of things! Will we go to USA to see it? People from all over the world will go."

"But how are you planning to go?"

"I know it's hard, all planes are full. However I found one airport almost abandoned but still on business, I can take one of their planes and go!"

"Isn't that... you know, dangerous?"

Just one morning after that, Neuren was paying to go on those planes and assist the convention, not even caring if it was dangerous or not. Luckily enough he had said months ago, when it was first announced, that he would go, so his spot was saved. That's how he came to be in the convention, waiting patiently for the speech to end. Considering how terrible he spent on that plane with that other person, he was sure he didn't want to do something like that again, not even for the worm. He found himself thinking back about the plane, and had a slight sense of nausea creeping up to him.

It wasn't until he heard gasps of surprise, followed with a strong applause that he realized that he wasn't listening at all. He looked at Gill Bates and saw the look of pride on his face. _What if this is dangerous for the Neurax?_ was his first thought. His second thought was asking someone about what did he say, but his third thought decided that it would be pointless. After all, he didn't consider anyone particularly smart to remember something that important.

"Well then, to your left you'll see many stands and you can buy some of our products." Gill Bates was saying. "Take anything but pay for it! Take advantage of the low prices." To his right (left to the public), the walls opened to reveal a larger room, full of tables neatly lined and arranged. Everyone quickly scattered to the room, hands in their pockets looking for their wallets.

"And before I take my leave, I wish you all a prosperous New Year." Gill Bates said, raising his hands before walking away.

"Sure enough, prosperous..." Neuren repeated under his breath. In his hand, he kept a bottle of water, the same that was given to Caroline in the Neurax's first infection. Even though the worm already had other means to spread, this one was the easiest and it worked once.

He looked around; the hardest part was looking for someone. The first time it didn't matter who would be the first infected, but now he needed someone who lived in this country. And detecting them... that was the hardest part.

* * *

><p>For one place that was extremely silent, completely dark, and almost lifeless, a single voice called.<p>

"Honey, I'm hooome!" The voice stopped suddenly, looking around genuinely confused, mostly at the sound of his own voice. "What the hell am I doing..."

The worm did not reply.

Neuren went silently to his computer, without even greeting the Neurax, like he always did at this point. He stood in front of his computer, his chair screeching and echoing in the silence. A few moments later he could only hear the barely audible sound of the computer's fan. Forgetting about recent events, he looked at a red symbol on the map.

"What is this?" He asked quietly, piqued with curiosity. A few seconds later, the red symbol disappeared. "Huh?" He looked at the worm, hoping it would answer. Of course, it did not.

He looked again at the screen. For a second he wished that the symbol meant what he thought it meant. Looking at the number of infections in that specific country, United States, he saw that the number three was displayed.

"We're there... it worked!" It was increasing slowly, one every two to four hours. It was easy to know why, after all, USA was a wealthy country, which means the medicine was enough to weaken the worm. "Drug Resistance 1. Nineteen DNA points." Neuren said, looking at the traits window. He already wasted most of his points before, and he had nine left. He just needed to wait a little longer before the Neurax could evolve. But how much more? He was growing impatient, and he knew that the worm has waited enough to evolve the Drug Resistance.

* * *

><p>People were reunited in the street, at their homes, everywhere. With families, friends and even homeless people who just wanted to celebrate.<p>

"Ten! Nine! Eight!"

A large amount of people was counting down in unison. Even some who were alone at home watching tv. The date was December 31st, 23:59 hours. Everyone was excited, and about to welcome the New Year. Neuren as well was watching TV, even if from where he was living that was a few hours ago. At the same time he kept a hand on his mouse, waiting for the right time. The number of infections was higher than expected, and he had almost thirty points to waste.

"Three!" And he readied.

"Two!" Waited.

"One!" Until it finally happened, "Happy New Year!" The people all around USA cheered excitedly, above the fireworks and noise from the cars or the animals.

"Indeed, happy New Year." Neuren said with a quiet voice. This was the time. The Neurax Worm evolved successfully Drug Resistance 1. "Happy New Year…"

At last he managed to look at the Neurax Worm again, overflowed with triumph. But glancing at it, several memories came into his mind, of cheerful reunions with his family and friends, even some people he didn't know. One year in particular came into his mind. It was around 2000, and being not just a new year, but a whole new millennium, the party they held was bigger than ever. They rented a big house, with a big park for the children to play. It was seventeen years ago, and Neuren wasn't thinking about anything more than playing with the smaller children and people around his age, from eight to eleven.

"Charlie, try to catch me if you can!" One of the younger yelled. Charlie raced after him, happily. They were playing tag probably, but they didn't even chose who was running away and who was chasing. Neuren wasn't particularly close to them, but he didn't mind being involved in their games. The adults were inside, talking so loudly that probably, from their perspective, the outside could not be heard.

Neuren shook his head. He remembered that year too well. His life might've been good before that, but since that year, everything went downhill. Or maybe it all started a few months before that, when his parents sent him to the psychiatrist. When they discovered his unstable condition, when it was known he could never recover from it. It was something stranger than insanity, and wouldn't be fully visible until he reached his middle or late teenage years. At that age, only an expert could see the slight symptoms that Neuren was developing.

But at first that didn't make him sad at all. He lived happily with it, because it couldn't affect him directly, but everyone around him. At the age of seventeen, he began having anger issues, but it was nothing to severe, because he calmed after a few minutes, as if nothing happened. It all began when anger evolved to violence just after, and his family suffered the most for that.

No one ever knew how much did that anger and violence evolve. His younger brothers could see Neuren's bloodthirsty smile, and they felt afraid of it. To him, that was just his brothers' imagination, but his parents, driven with the psychiatrist's predictions, believed that it wouldn't be long until he became a coldblooded murderer, and they would be the first victims.

Despite all, Neuren was strong in mind. He had managed to calm himself down before anything regrettable could happen. When he realized just how serious his state of mind was, even his anger outbursts were under control.

However, there was obviously something that made him hate the world as he does right now. And it obviously began with his family. While he lived normally, controlling his anger outbursts, his parents wouldn't trust him, no matter what he did or say. And it's no surprise, one could not trust someone so unstable.

At the age of sixteen, his parents hired a lawyer and presented a case: Neuren could no longer live with them. The fact that they had smaller children helped to make the judge understand, and act in their favor. As for him, he was sentenced to a lifetime in a mental hospital.

His grudge against his family began then, and continued with each passing day. Inside, he met people with both better and worse conditions than his. Some people there would do things that he couldn't begin to imagine, and find no guilt.

"Hey, you new here?" The first person who ever spoke to him was a grown man, who was around forty or fifty years old. Even at that age, he used to train himself every day, his muscles being the proof of it. Now, he had it forbidden, in case he tried anything with the guards, authorities or other people.

"Yes." Neuren spoke calmly, but he was shivering a little. He knew he couldn't take these people lightly; after all, they were here.

"What you here for?" He spoke with an accent Neuren couldn't recognize, but he guessed that English wasn't his first language.

"They say I'm insane." There were some seconds of silence, and Neuren decided to speak first. "What's your name?"

"Name?" He repeated, with a look of anger and disgust. "We don't have names."

"What do you mean?" He backed one step, readying himself to run if this man tried anything.

"I don't have a name. You don't have a name. He," the man signaled someone in the corner of the room, "doesn't have a name." He paused again, and looking at Neuren's confused gaze, he kept going. "We are nothing. We here 'cause people hate us. And we have no name thus. You don't agree?"

Neuren thought about it. He was about to realize that this man's condition was even worse than he imagined, but he did not dare to say it out loud. The grown, muscular man continued.

"People abandoned us to die. Here. In jail."

"This is not..." he paused to think again. Was it not a jail? Could he really look around himself, look at his situation, and tell to himself that he was not left in jail?

Neuren shook his head. He was back at his apartment. He remembered how that man could have been a friend, but how afraid he felt of him at the time. There was no one he could call friend, and no family he ever cared for, as he felt the complete betrayal of being abandoned. In the end, if the world dies, there wouldn't have been anyone he could miss.

"The world needs you." He was talking to the Neurax now, without looking at it. "It is too cruel to exist anymore." Shaking his head again, he tried to forget it. _If only..._ he began thinking, looking at the symptoms window on his screen, _I could... make them feel what I felt. Feel how your mind can consume you, and no one is willing to understand you, or help you get through that_. His grudge was directed towards everyone he met. Not just his family, but friends, classmates, and former coworkers.

"This is for the best. Nothing holds me back, and nothing holds _you_ back. Right, Neurax?"

He forced himself to forget the man. We'll get to the reason he was there some other time, and what was his relationship with Neuren. But for now, the center of attention is the Neurax.

"Yes... you might be useless." As he always did, he addressed the worm. "But you're a gift, given to me and only me. You will help me, and I'll help you." The worm didn't reply. Neuren kept talking to himself for a while after that, deciding what his next movement would be.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeaaah, hopping into Neuren's past a little. I mean, you just don't randomly find a virus and begin killing the world just like that, y'know. Not even in Plague Inc.<strong>

**Aaaaargh there's something I wanna say but I'll save it until next chapter. btw STOP WITH THE AUTHOR'S NOTES CRYOTEMPORAL.**


	5. Rumors

**Short episode is short.**

**But why not, a second update for the day.**

* * *

><p>"Don't worry about it, it's just a flu."<p>

The kid was waiting for the man in front of him to speak. His mother was with him, with a look of relief on her face. They were standing in front of a man with white clothes. The small white room smelled of disinfectant, and barely had a small window where air could come in. The man was wearing glasses and writing something on a small paper. Signing it, he handed the paper to the kid, who took it timidly. A nametag on his clothes revealed his surname, "Dr. Thompson", and the one on his desk revealed his full name, Dr. Derek T. Thompson.

"Take this medicine for two weeks, even if you don't feel any symptoms, and you'll be playing sports in no time." The doctor said gently, as the kid gave the paper to his mother.

"Thank you, doctor." His mother spoke for him. "I'll make sure he follows."

They said goodbye, the doctor closed the door to the room and continued writing on a paper.

"Another day full of work." He sighed, but smiled at the same time. The best part about his job was seeing the people with worried looks leave with a smile, knowing that they'd be ok. On the other hand, seeing people who can't recover was the worst part of it. Luckily he hadn't those kinds of patients today, but it didn't mean he never had one. Through his more-than-forty years of his life, he has learned how to talk to people who lost hope. He was a well-respected doctor, not because of his ability to detect diseases with almost hundred percent accuracy, but because he also helps to find cures to incurable diseases, and most of all that he can talk to his patients as if they were friends, and help them feel better when they have few moments to live. That's why he's one of the best doctors in the country, almost everyone goes to him when they don't feel good, and he always has the right answer.

Lately, most of his patients came asking him about their slight headaches and other symptoms, all of them related to diseases already known. Some of his patients had illnesses which symptoms normally wouldn't include a headache, and while they told him about it so he could accurately tell what was that they had, he would give them some painkillers and tell them to forget about it, because he thought it could be caused by stress or anything else.

But now he was beginning to have his suspicions about them. Not just from his patients, but from people that thought the headache was something normal, nothing to worry about. However painkillers were stopping having any effect, and he thought if there wasn't some brain disease going around. And it was not just that, but he began to pay attention to the rapid eye blinking of the people around him, and he began to look for a connection between the two events: blinking and slight headache. For the first time, he was beginning to doubt his own judgment, but he couldn't let that interfere with his job and his patients' health.

* * *

><p>"Neural Breach, 'breach the bloodbrain barrier to allow access to the host brain. Causes dystonia - rapid eye blinking.'"

Several months have passed since the beginning of the year. From there on Neuren evolved even more transmission traits, and by now he had most countries barely infected, and there were some where the Neurax couldn't reach. One of them was Greenland, and he evolved Cold 1, Cold 2, and Water 1 hoping he would get there. But ships were never leaving towards the big island and planes were useless in this case. He would have to wait for it.

"Cerebral Tendrils, 'tendril production in the cerebral cavities begins. Enables increased control over host brain.'"

He decided it would be the right time to evolve symptoms, while he waited for more DNA to come. The slow infections were making him nervous and impatient, so he decided to act quickly and see the fear of people. While he read out loud, he kept evolving. Just when he finished with _Cerebral Tendrils_, he saw how the branch spread into three ramifications. He evolved into the one who helped the Neurax to hide better from doctors and mostly, people. That is, Anxiolytic Infusion.

"Mass synthesis of neurotransmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid, significantly reduces anxiety in the host and minimises severity of reactions."

He read just as he evolved it. He kept reading other symptoms, curious about what the other ramifications lead to.

"Frontal Mesh, 'tendrils mesh with frontal lobe - the conscious thought centre - and gain ability to mentally manipulate host.'"

Something made him stop suddenly. He just sat there, looking at his screen completely frozen, and not even blinking. Thinking he might've misread something, he repeated.

"Tendrils mesh with frontal lobe and gain ability to mentally manipulate host." One last time, he read the confusing part of the sentence, "Mentally manipulate host..."

For several long seconds he thought about it. He thought the worm was like a deadly frozen virus. He only thought that it would help him wipe the human race. But that probably was not the worm's goal. It doesn't just attack the host's most vital organ; it can control it.

Taking a glance at the worm, Neuren spoke.

"What exactly... are you?" For the first time he wished with all his might that the worm could reply. It didn't look useless at all now; this ancient worm could have been one of the most dangerous creatures on Earth.

_The Neurax Worm. An ancient worm with the ability to control people… No, to control living beings._ Neuren kept thinking to himself, wondering if he could use this to his advantage. Sure it wouldn't be him who controlled people, but the worm. He suddenly felt a pang of regret; he involved himself with a dangerous pathogen. _A dangerous pathogen…_ He repeated his own thoughts, _the Neurax Worm is able to control actions. To control thoughts and wills. To control them completely_. He stood up and shook his head. The look of regret changed to one of determination.

"I'm sorry, Neurax." He told the worm, which had grown in size those last months. "But I do not want to control people like you do. They don't deserve anything better than death." He decided to stick with his first plan. "But this can be useful somehow, right? There should be something... something I can do."

He was suddenly reminded about one of the Neurax's abilities. He didn't evolve it at first; instead he decided to wait until he could understand what it meant. This symptom helped, and he opened the abilities window straight away.

"_Trojan Planes_..."

'Manipulation of dopamine transporters results in a form of ADHD which encourages hosts to fly to a target country.' In other words, the Neurax can control its host to make it fly to whatever country it chooses.

"It should've been obvious!" But knowing that every living being controls its own body, he couldn't imagine that the worm could control them instead. "That means..." The map was reflected on his eyes. He stared at it, thinking, and then he realized: even to the countries he couldn't reach, like Greenland or most countries from Africa. Now, to him, it was possible.

* * *

><p>"Aah, I feel much better..."<p>

"But... what about your headache? And your quick blinking?"

"Do not worry, it doesn't hurt. And the blink? My contact lenses are kinda annoying these days." The young man stood up and got ready to leave. "Don't worry, doc. You made an excellent job as always, and I feel better thanks to you."

Derek felt astonished, but he gave the man a handshake and waited for him to leave, apparently feeling better. He had insisted about having him checked, but the other refused several times and it was impossible to change his mind.

But the most surprising part of it was his other patients. They all went to him because they were feeling bad about the headaches, and he told all of them to come later so he could make sure they weren't infected with anything. However, all of them returned with the same results: the headache was not there anymore and so they didn't want to be checked.

All of this made him feel suspicious, but he hoped that it was really nothing at all. He hoped one of his patients would be willing to cooperate, but all of them refused and he couldn't force them. Because all of them seemed to feel fine, he might believe that they _were_ fine. But he knew the blinking symptom was still there, and by just that strange minimal thing he knew that something was going on.

At once he asked one of his patients, but he evaded the question saying, "it's ok, I just got used to it", or others would use the casual excuse about the contact lenses.

When he got home, he obviously told his wife about it, who didn't seem to have any of those symptoms. She said that none of her friends seemed to have symptoms as well, and she suggested that he was probably overreacting and it was just as his patients said.

However, she understood his husband's concerns, and when she was talking to her friends, she told them about the possible new threat, and she explained the symptoms to them. Not long after that, her friends told other people, like their families or really close friends. It was unknown whether the disease really existed or not. So, for now, this was just a rumor.

* * *

><p><strong>Short. I believe this will be the last uninteresting episode.<strong>


	6. Are you infected?

"People have been hearing rumors lately," a reporter was saying, standing in front of the camera. Because he was at the studio, he wasn't using a hand microphone. To his right there were some panels with graphs and information. People who were watching the TV could see the bottom line, _**Possible new disease?**_

"They are talking about a new disease spreading that has infected very few selected people. While the symptoms are not very noticeable, it's said that the main one is a difference in people's blinking. However, no doctor has reported this disease yet, and so we don't know exactly how real it is."

Sitting comfortably on his sofa, Neuren watched the news, expecting to see something about the worm, at least indirectly related, and came across the news about the rumors. Apparently, adding symptoms was enough to make people notice, but since the Neurax could control their thoughts - to some extent - it seemed that its existence was not confirmed yet.

"Not bad." He said, nodding to the worm. "Not bad at all."

Glancing again at his monitors, he saw that more and more people were being infected even more quickly. Before adding symptoms, he had added more transmission traits, as well as Cold 1 and 2 to get to Greenland, and Trojan Planes in case he couldn't get there. However, for some reason he couldn't control where they went. At least, he hoped it would be the case. Otherwise he would have to acknowledge that the Trojan Planes ability wasn't working as he expected. He thought to himself that they were not for him to control, but to the Neurax, and so he couldn't see them.

"Can't you at least tell your children where they need to go?" He looked at the Neurax again, hoping that it would understand what he was saying at least. But he didn't give any signs of doing it.

It was the middle of the year. In contrast with the first one since he found the Neurax Worm frozen on that glacier, nothing interesting happened at all. He began thinking how boring the second year was, because the only thing he had to do was wait while no one else noticed the infections. And he didn't know how long it would last, because it could take another long year before he reached the uninfected countries. On his screen, he saw that only Greenland, Iceland and select countries from Africa - like Angola or Morocco - were relatively safe.

"This is irritating!" He shouted suddenly, only to fall in silence again. "This is never going to work if we go this slowly. We need more planes, and I guess eggs and wind will do the rest."

Opening again the abilities window, he posed his cursor above the Trojan Planes ability.

"Let's see. 'Axillary steroids in humans used to bolster pheromone production, causing even more Trojan Planes'. This one has to work."

Just as he evolved it, he noticed a screen that showed a detailed list of planes and how they were always leaving to other countries. None of them seemed to be the Trojan Planes the worm should be controlling, but if there were indeed some, they couldn't be noticed.

"Was this list always here?" Neuren asked himself. He didn't completely understand the program yet, so every once in a while he would see a new window with new information, sometimes useful, sometimes useless. "But I guess it's good that they can't notice your planes. Just fly to the countries we need to go."

He looked at one of the monitors above the main one. It showed the inside of an airport. It was the same one where the Neurax infected its first victim, and it was as lively as always.

On the other screens, which were shut down when the worm made its first infection, were scenes of streets, airports, ship ports, and the like. All of them seemed to be from different countries; he had Germany on one, Russia on the other, Australia, USA, Brazil. Eleven countries were shown there, on each of the eleven monitors. The last one was the monitor Neuren was always looking at, where he could see a map of the world, the number of people infected, the cure progress (that obviously was at zero percent), and most importantly, the Neurax's evolution.

The eleven screens showed scenes seen in security cameras, very few installed by him. But he got enough information to hack the others, and so they were shown there.

"At last you're not so useless."

* * *

><p>"What are these rumors we're hearing lately, Dr. Thompson?"<p>

Inside a big white room, with a round table and people sitting all around it, they were debating about the new disease that was probably spreading. It was a meeting, held by the most experienced doctors, biologists, and scientists of the world. It was hold once in a year, to discuss about how the microorganisms evolved every day, what should they do about it, and what should they tell normal people. And of course, this year, the first topic would be the disease that apparently was spreading.

"It is a good question, Dr. Nora. But I think you all know about this already." He stood up and looked all around him, readying himself to explain. "A few months ago, I've been having patients that, even with different illnesses and symptoms, had one or two in common. The first one, slight headache. The second one, fast blinking. I've been trying to check the patients who had these symptoms still, but they would not let me. I suspect there is something they do not want to let us see."

Everyone listened in silence, a few of them nodding occasionally, as if they already knew and suspected as much.

"Has anyone else noticed these symptoms on his patients lately?" A man at the head of the table asked, sitting in his chair, which was bigger and more comfortable than the rest. He was the director of the meeting after all.

"I have." A woman stood up. She had a French accent, but spoke English almost perfectly. "Dystonia, isn't it? Not just my patients, but people on the street, families, friends, and people I barely know. This is not a coincidence." She made a huge emphasis on the word _not_. "We should investigate at once."

"How?" A young ginger man asked. He looked younger and more inexperienced than the rest, and for a moment Derek thought he just slid into the meeting, instead of being invited.

"If we can't find anyone who wants to be checked, we'll force them." Another doctor said.

"No, we can't do that." The director replied calmly. "We might get sued if we use force. We have to persuade them. Any ideas?"

The room fell silent at once, with everyone looking down, thinking. They all have faced a patient who didn't want to be checked for that possible disease and, as law dictated, they would have to respect their decision.

After long minutes of silence and occasional mutterings between two people, Derek was the first to speak.

"I can ask my wife." Everyone looked at him at once, expressionless. "We could all do that. Ask a close member of our families. One might be infected, and if we tell them to check themselves for the disease, there's a chance we know if it's real or not."

The room fell silent again. Derek felt a shiver down his spine, but he stood there, facing everyone and not backing away. At last, the director spoke.

"If there are no more ideas, we'll accept Dr. Thompson's suggestion." He waited for someone to argue or reply, but no one spoke. He declared at last, "we will go on with your idea. Ask your wife, and we'll all ask someone else."

Derek suppressed a sigh of relief. Sitting again on his chair, he wondered if someone from this room had someone who could be infected already, and if they've already tried checking them.

Yes. The man who wanted to force his patients. He has two siblings, both of them showed these symptoms, but they would not want to be checked. Just as the director finished speaking, he just looked at the floor, and didn't raise any objections. He knew how useless it was, but he thought that they would be lucky if they found someone who was willing to cooperate. _Humanity always has been lucky… _He was lost in thought, and couldn't listen to the rest of the meeting. The only thing that came into his mind was the hope that this disease, even if hosted on the brain, is harmless and could go away.

* * *

><p>Many days passed since the meeting. Derek was attending more patients, as usual. All of them with the strange disease's symptoms, but none of them asked about it. He watched them go, not even bothering in asking them about it. It should've been his job to warn them, but he suspected skepticism was a symptom nobody mentioned. As such, they would have to confirm it. He knew that someday, there would be someone who fears the disease, and could get examined.<p>

One time, a girl went to him. And he couldn't help feeling surprised just after she told him about her symptoms.

"A slight headache."

He looked at her for a few moments, piqued with interest. Though the headache wasn't it, but...

"And... my eyes itch. I can't stop blinking like this." Her blinking was fast. _Dystonia, _Derek thought as much.

"Ok... Miss Sharon. Can I call you that?" She nodded. "I see you never had any strong diseases."

"Or weak ones." She interrupted. "I'm very clean; I always keep windows open, I never share people's utensils or glasses. And I'm worried, because this headache won't go away."

"We need to see your condition thoroughly, to make sure you don't have anything strange."

Sharon didn't need to think about it twice to understand what he meant. She knew about the rumors too well, and she feared she might be infected with the disease everyone was talking about, but no one could discover.

* * *

><p>"What... what is this?!" Derek couldn't stop himself from screaming out loud. He had inspected Sharon's condition, having her doing almost every study he knew about. After a few weeks, the anomalies were obvious, and at last she had a picture of her brain.<p>

But what surprised him... was the creature on top of it, resting calmly as if it belonged there. It was the cause of the strange disease; the pathogen. But what _exactly_ was it? For some time he was concerned, but at he noticed that the cure couldn't be that hard to find. After all, one could have a brain surgery to take it off, right?

He would have to think about the cure later, for now he would have to confront the young girl who never thought to be infected with a new disease no one knew about. And after that, contact the authorities, and reporters. Anyone could be infected by now. And that's what he most feared, but he couldn't help feeling relieved too. If everyone is infected, probably they would work faster on the cure; besides there were two symptoms by now, dystonia and headache. None of these were dangerous, and none of them lethal. However, the knowledge of a new disease would make anyone uneasy, especially if the pathogen is hosted on the brain, and it's as big as this one.

"I'm sorry, Sharon." He said, sighing, shaking his head slightly. "You have been infected."


	7. PAX-12

"So, Dr. Thompson, the rumors were true? A new disease is actually spreading?"

"I'm afraid so." Derek was being interviewed, but this time it was not live. He was in front of a camera, with a reporter just behind it. A comfortable sofa and a table were ready for him; on the table, an empty cup and a remote control.

He had called them just to bring the news about the unnamed disease, considering that the faster people know about it, the faster it'll go away, and he offered (or mostly begged) to tell the public about the news of the disease.

"What can you tell us about it? Is it dangerous, should we take precautions?"

"So far..." He hesitated for some few seconds but, swallowing, he forced himself to go on. "So far it's harmless. I don't know how many people have been infected. I don't know if it's lethal, however it doesn't seem to be changing anything about the human body. As for the symptoms, there's only two: dystonia -rapid eye blinking- and headache." He felt as if he said those words a hundred times already. "It's possible we can take the pathogen off with open brain surgery, but it hasn't been tested yet."

"And what exactly is this pathogen?" The reporter asked, and Derek grabbed the remote control that was in the table next to him. Pushing a button, an image appeared on the panel, flashed by the projector.

"It looks like this."

An image of some worm appeared, resting in a brain. The image was not too detailed, but the shape, the outline, was clearly visible. Derek asked Sharon's permission to take that picture, and due to the circumstances she obviously agreed. So the worm that was shown on the projector was a small one, probably weakened due to Sharon's care for herself, but that didn't mean it wasn't growing smoothly.

"This is the worm. For the looks of it, it's highly possible that it feeds on the human brain. Its name; PAX-12."

* * *

><p>"There's nothing to do now, Neurax." Neuren was growing impatient. He wanted people to feel fear of being infected with an incurable disease, but it could not happen until more people are infected or they notice it. The date was fourth of September of 2017; he was still on the second year of the worm's infection, more or less a year of the worm's discovery. If he recalled correctly, he found the worm on August, 2016. From then, he modified the software that controlled it, and he gave Caroline the infected water.<p>

He turned on the TV, hoping to see anything interesting, to get rid of his boredom. But going through the channels, he was confronted with one in particular: someone has noticed the Neurax Worm, and reported it.

For a few minutes he just stared at the screen in silence, not knowing whether to feel relieved or concerned.

_"PAX-12 inhabits a human's brain, and feeds of it. But it's harmless, and in few time we can find the cure in surgery."_

"Surgery?" Neuren echoed. "What about the tendrils?" The tendrils that help the worm manipulate its host. They grow like roots into the host's brain, and if they were to be taken away with force, there's no doubt that would seriously damage someone's brain. That considering they would not die first.

There was the option to cut the worm off ignoring the tendrils, but any good doctor would know how dangerous it is to keep a foreign object inside the brain. And after that they would have to take the tendrils away, one by one, with extreme care. A surgery like that would only be for wealthy people, and Neuren knew too well rich people don't give money to others that actually need it.

Not that it actually matters; the worm can't be cured with surgery. And even if it could, it's so infectious they would have to do it once every month, at least.

_"So it's nothing to worry about, right?"_

_"I wouldn't say we can't completely trust in that; after all it lives on the brain, but I can say that for now we might be able to find a cure smoothly."_

Neuren gazed at the screen, without actually looking at it. He felt relieved that the Neurax has been noticed at last, so he could truly begin with the plan. On the other hand, he was concerned about the cure, constantly asking himself if they would find it in time. And at last he felt surprised, for some reason. His mouth was half open, and his eyes trailed to every corner of the room.

Swallowing, he stood up and faced his computer. Many people were still uninfected, but that was nothing to worry about, the worm only needed to keep infecting people like that.

He finally decided. He would show himself to the world. But just yet?

"Trojan Destroyers: 'Testosterone secretion in Trojan hosts causes destructive and aggressive behavior in target country.' This may be helpful."

He needed people to fear the worm first. And his first step was controlling people so they would react aggressively towards others. If it worked as he planned, then people would have to realize how the Neurax controls them into travelling, and how it creates the aggressive behavior.

But it would take other long days of boredom, so the first thing he did was slump into his sofa and readied himself for a good nap.

* * *

><p>Fifteenth of September of 2017, at the airport of Italy. People from all over the world came to the romantic country, some for the scenery, and others for the food. But always so peaceful, people sometimes go there when they need a break from daily routines.<p>

And so looked the airport; in contrast with the crowded one from USA, this one had people just walking around, looking at the places, laughing, or just waiting with a drink for the people who should arrive.

A man arrived into the airport, letting a sonorous sigh of relief at being on earth again. Getting his suitcases, he padded towards the exit, where a taxi should be waiting to take him to his apartment.

His head down, he was staring at the floor. He wasn't particularly in a bad mood, but something made him feel tired. Anyway, while he wasn't looking ahead of him, his shoulder bumped into someone older than him who was walking in the opposite direction.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" He apologized quickly. But the first man just looked at him, from head to feet, and head again. He stared for several moments into his eyes, and dropping his suitcase he crossed his arms. Of course, the other one just looked at him confused, too nervous to go away. "Um... is something wrong?" He asked, hoping he could go away as soon as he answered. But that man did not, and instead took a few steps, until they were inches away from each other.

And then, without warning, or reason, he punched the older one in his cheek.

By pure force, the older one fell, and struggled to get up. His face red with rage, he stared at the younger one, whose fists were still clenched.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" He yelled. Everyone else around them turned suddenly, curious and terrified.

The younger man grabbed the other by the collar of his shirt, and so both of them began a fight, without warning, without reason.

"Ah... these are your Trojan Destroyers, right?"

Neuren was looking at one of his screens, and it showed the scene with the two men struggling. By the time both of them looked covered in bruises, and occasionally somebody would try to stop them with no success. But the fight wouldn't stop by its own, and both men knew that if they couldn't badly injure the other, they would end killed. At the same time both of them kept their humanity and did not dare to take someone else's life, unaware of the other's intentions.

Then the guards stepped in, after one of them called for reinforcements. They managed to hold both men and take them away from the scene. They both struggled in the guards' grip, but they couldn't free themselves. At one point, when they were taken away, the older one collapsed, and they had to call an ambulance.

"I like how this is going." Neuren said, smiling for the first time. "Finally, I like it."

* * *

><p>At the local hospital, doctors were inspecting the two men, looking for severe injuries or broken bones. The older man didn't seem to have any, but he had lost blood and the shock of the fight made him faint. They kept him inside a few days so he could fully recover, and so there police could question him about the events.<p>

But as for the younger one...

"You… have been infected." The doctor told him, after doing some tests on him.

"I-Infected?" He stammered, a surprised expression was on his face. "With what?"

"With PAX-12." The doctor noticed the symptoms and made a quick check on his brain. The results were clear, and the Neurax Worm was already feeding on his brain. At once he called the police officer who was questioning the other man.

"He says he hasn't done anything wrong." He explained to the doctor. "He just bumped into someone and apologized, but the other one started attacking, without saying anything beforehand."

He seemed like he was about to keep explaining, but the doctor interrupted him.

"He has PAX-12. He didn't seem to know at all, and at the same time he doesn't seem to recall recent events."

* * *

><p>"It's about time." Neuren told the worm, while he was watching the news. The report about the aggressive attack at the airport, and the attacker was confirmed to be infected with PAX-12, and thought about the possibility of adding aggression as a symptom. Right now, almost everyone in the world was infected, and Neuren decided that he was waited enough to show himself.<p>

_Respect. Recognition._

He grabbed a camera and turned off the lights, so his face could not be visible. They also turned off his monitors, and the only light that reflected on his face was the dim blue light of the CPU.

_**Fear.**_

"So, how should I start?" He asked the Neurax, but it didn't reply. "Something like... '_good morning, everyone!'_?" He thought for some seconds. That sounded awful. "This is harder than I thought..."

* * *

><p>The day after that, the police officer was at the precinct, he called to his chief right away to tell him about the news. Naturally, he heard them already, as he's been contacted by the doctors and some reporters, and of course he'd watched the news, but he waited for him to finish talking before making any remarks.<p>

"Ah, and there's something else!" The officer said when he finished reporting.

"What is it?" The chief said, with a cigarette on his hand.

"There's a video going through the internet, chief Quartz. It's valuable information about PAX-12."

Quartz inspected him for some long seconds, taking smoke from the cigarette and releasing it into the air.

"Show me." He said at last. The officer saluted him and went to get a computer.  
>He searched for the video and hit play. On the screen, he could see a man wearing a hood, but the only feature of his face that he could see was his nose, outlined with a blue light.<p>

"Greetings, world. I see you finally take notice of 'PAX-12'."

"Is him a doctor?" Quartz asked. Everyone shook their heads, unable to answer.

"And you might wonder how the worm and the events at the airport in Italy were related. But what you just saw was not a symptom of PAX-12, at all. It was, what I like to call, a Trojan Destroyer."

"A Trojan what?" Quartz couldn't help asking. He continued watching.

"So it means that people infected will travel somewhere, and in that country they'll act aggressively. As for the creature causing this, here you have it." He signaled to a cylinder beside him, were a worm was being held. He drew it closer to the camera, so it could be seen. "This creature is the cause of the disease." He made a short pause before he continued. "PAX-12 is a Neurax Worm, undiscovered for thousands of years."

"Neurax Worm?" Quartz echoed. The worm was bigger than he thought. Bigger than the one seen on the picture Derek took.

"This is his natural habitat, and you've given it the means to spread."

"What the hell is he talking about?"

"As for me... you might call me Neuren. Some of you might think I'm your ally, with my knowledge of the Neurax. That would be a naïve thought. I am your enemy, do not forget that. I found a way to control the Neurax's evolution. I evolved him so he could control your thoughts and your wills. The Trojan Destroyers is the ultimate proof of it."

"What?!" Quartz stood up suddenly, dropping the cigarette in the process.

"Thousands of years ago, the Neurax Worm could control other creatures, maybe they even controlled dinosaurs. But they were unable to spread until now, when I found this one." He signaled to the Neurax kept inside the cylinder. "And I know I'm not planning to stop. The symptoms seem harmless so far... but not even I know the limits of the Neurax's power. It will keep evolving, until they can kill you, and reclaim the earth that's rightfully theirs." The strange man said, predicting the end.

"This man is insane!" Everyone else agreed, but they were paralyzed and couldn't move or talk.

"As for my reasons... well, I've been living in this world long enough to know that humans should never have existed."

"This makes no sense." Quartz was boiling with anger right now. He was about to shout _turn it off! _but his job demanded he had to see the rest.

"As for the doctors... well, I can just say we are at war now. I'll be waiting for you to find the cure… as you think, open brain surgery to take the worm off. I can't test it of course, because I'm no doctor, but I'm curious about what happens when you do it." He smiled slightly, but the room was so dark that his expression was not visible. "Leaving this behind, I hope you remember me. Remember existence. Remember my name: Neuren… Because this will not be the last time you think about me."

* * *

><p><strong>Yep, I mostly copypasted the summary from this episode.<strong>

**You know, something I really like about Plague Inc fanfiction is how you can have different perspectives (at least in this case, where I have the main character's one, the news, the police, the doctors, and normal people).**

**Anyway, this is the last chapter I managed to write on my holidays. So the updates will be a little less often from now on. But this is the first time I feel like I could actually finish a story, so I will try to focus on this as much as I can (and no, this won't be a broken promise like my other fic... lol).**


	8. Opposite Transcendence

**Hm. I'm pretty sure I had something for the author's nothes, but I completely forgot. Well then, I might just update instead.**

**Whoops I REALLY forgot something. *re-updates***

* * *

><p>"I won't stop until I see the end of the world with my own eyes. Until the end of human history. I will become the last man of Earth and wait until my own death. The new world begins with the end of this world. The Neurax will make sure... humans don't destroy the world anymore."<p>

Neuren paused a few seconds to think about his next words, wondering how to end the video. Quartz was raging at the precinct, taking the moments of silence to yell desperately at the screen. The other officers just stared in silence, not knowing what to say, but mostly with shocked and horrified expressions.

"And so... welcome to the end of the human race, and the beginning of the Neurax Worm." Neuren said at last, and feeling he had finished, he turned off the camera.

"How was it?" He asked the worm. It moved slightly and went limp again. "I wonder how everyone will react. They won't be able to find the cure like this, I'm certain."

* * *

><p>"Who the hell is he?!" Quartz asked, more to himself. And since it was for himself, nobody answered. "And how does it even cross his mind that he wants to kill the world with a worm?!"<p>

An officer stepped forwards, speaking calmly.

"Sir, what if this person asks for something in return?" He tried to calm him down.

"And now he wants to ask for something?!"

"No, sir... that's not what I meant. This might… not be real."

Quartz almost growled at him, but within few seconds he understood. Something as simple as the video being fake, being just someone who took the opportunity, when PAX-12 was being known, and used the disease for blackmail.

However, it probably wasn't so simple. After all, words said by the man on the video, _"I've been living in this world long enough to know that humans should never have existed."_ And he couldn't remember a single word that could hint what was he looking for.

In other words, it was not as if Neuren was threatening the world because he wanted something in exchange. He wanted a complete extermination of the human race, and that included himself.

Thinking of it like that, it made no sense. Why record a video in the first place? Or did he do it because he wants something after all?

No, the idea itself made no sense. It sounded like Neuren wanted to kill himself, but that didn't mean he needed to kill the world as well.

"Inspect the video at once. Everything. I don't want anything unchecked."

"Yes sir!" Several officers said, saluting him. Before they scattered, he added.

"And try to track this _Neuren_. I want to have a word with him."

Replying with another "yes sir", they all began doing their jobs. Meanwhile Quartz looked once more at the video, hoping to understand it better. The idea of someone controlling a disease just couldn't get into his mind, so he still doubted about the reliability of this video. But if it were to be true... Then, was there hope for the human race? Or would they face the same fate as the dinosaurs; infected by the Neurax, and extinct?

He grabbed another cigarette, and watched the video again. Except for the dim blue light reflected on the worm and very little of the man's face, everything else was black. If they couldn't track him to arrest him, then they would have to be open for negotiations. Either that or hope that doctors will find a cure for PAX-12 before it's too late.

"Isn't it possible to see his face better?" Quartz asked an officer who was passing by, walking towards a laptop.

"I don't think it's possible, sir." He replied, slightly frustrated with his incapability. "I think this video has been recorded with a low quality camera on purpose. Even if we could clear it a little, it would be useless, because nothing would be seen."

"And what about his voice?"

"Well, unlike the camera, that seems to be recorded with a good microphone. But if he used a voice converter, then we are in square one again."

"Try it anyway. There's a possibility we find something."

The officer knew how difficult it was to track someone only with his voice. He wanted to voice his disagreement, but Quartz probably wasn't listening to him anymore. Thinking it would be rude to leave without answering his chief, he spoke again.

"I'll try the best I can… but I think it's easier to track his IP address and… well, I'll try everything. If you excuse me." He then turned around and went to where a laptop was, and began inspecting the video as Quartz ordered.

* * *

><p>News about Neuren's video were already spreading locally; however, without paying much attention to it. It seemed like everyone was convinced that the video was fake, and no one was controlling the Neurax after all. In fact, nobody dared to call the worm "Neurax". Instead they still called it PAX-12, as Derek had said. Since the media didn't take it seriously, then the population did the same and didn't take it seriously. And that was only for the few who were watching the news and knew about the existence of the video. After all, it was barely shown in few channels, and it wasn't on the internet.<p>

"I really thought this would work..." Neuren told himself, completely disappointed. It was the same as always, everyone infected lived happily, not even caring about the disease. For a second he thought that the Adrenergic Constriction symptom forced people to stay calm. After all, if the Neurax didn't want anyone to notice, so that they don't work on the cure, it would manipulate their host so that they feel at ease with it.

The thought about making a second video crossed his mind. But the parting words of his first one didn't help. _And if I make a prediction?_ he asked himself. If he told the world how the worm would evolve beforehand, they would start fearing Neuren and respecting him. But glancing at the worm's symptoms, it didn't have anything that could be easily noticed, taking note of the DNA points he had to spare. And on top of it, he understood the worm; that is, what the worm wanted. Neurax would never allow him to show it to the public.

_But people have seen your real form already..._ Neuren thought calmly, smoothing things over.

He let out a deep sigh. _Just... another year...?_

"Just... another... year..."

* * *

><p>"A year is too long!" A doctor yelled, standing up suddenly.<p>

"I'm sorry, but if we rush things we'll make it worse for the patients." Derek said, trying to calm him down.

The annual meeting ended few days ago. However, at the sudden discovery of the Neurax Worm, Derek had called an urgent meeting, so the same doctors that reunited in this room just days ago were there again.

"PAX-12 has harmless symptoms. We just need to develop a cure, or kill it with surgery." The director said, looking at the other doctor with an expressionless face. His voice was calm, and created silence when he finished talking. Derek was the first one to break the silence.

"You are right, sir." He said respectfully. "PAX-12," and continued, looking around, "is harmless. It cannot kill people, they don't make them vulnerable. We just have to extract it, right? That is the cure!"

The room fell silent again. No one dared to say anything. Everyone was thinking about something, and it was unknown whether they heard him or not.

It was obvious what they were thinking about.

Neuren.

Could he really be controlling the worm, or the worm caused the opportunity to get him whatever he wanted? No one dared to test the video's reliability, because if they did, it was possible that an outbreak would take place soon...

Again, Derek spoke, guessing their thoughts.

"The Ne- I mean, PAX-12 is harmless. Dystonia, headache. There are no more symptoms." _I wish I could stop saying those words now..._ He thought for a second. "And that man just took advantage of the situation to control us, but he doesn't control the worm. It is impossible unless you are in a laboratory with a lot of other scientists. As far as we know, he works alone."

No one nodded, they just listened in silence. Surely they knew the worm was harmless, surely they know how well somebody could take advantage of a disease like that, but...

"But our patients," a woman stood up, breaking the silence, and putting into words everyone's doubts, "before the worm was discovered, they wouldn't let us check them. You were lucky to find someone who cares about their health enough, but what about everyone else? Didn't we all think they could be hiding something from us?"

Murmurs of agreement rose on the room. Those were words Derek himself said on the last meeting, and they all came to believe it.

"I believe that we should investigate further, before making any wild assumptions."

"Wait a minute." The director said finally, and the room fell in silence again, waiting for his next words. "Yes, we can investigate. However, PAX-12 is harmless. It can't do anything, it's weak. That's what we should believe and tell the population."

The woman sat down, slowly. Everyone else looked at each other, but they didn't say a word. The long seconds of silence continued until a doctor stood up and voiced his agreement.

"That's it, then! We perform a practice surgery on someone, and we kill the worm. Then if it works, we can cure everyone else!"

They all stared at him. He sounded so cheerful; he forgot the single thing needed for the plan to work: money. If the funds are not enough, they can't perform an experimental surgery on anyone. Another man, this time a scientist, explained that to him in a whisper.

"Oh, then..." he said again, thinking. "Then we go with Derek's first idea."

Derek looked at him confused, and a slight _"eh?"_ escaped his mouth.

"You remember, when you said you could inspect your wife. My son has been infected, so I can try a surgery on him."

"It's the same, actually." Derek replied. "You need funds to that operation. You can't do that yourself."

"I can try." He said that in a challenging voice. Derek stared at him for some seconds, unsure he had to reply or not. He didn't want to start a fight, after all. But he couldn't let him do that alone, when they didn't know how dangerous the worm was.

"Please, think this over, ok?" He tried to sound as calm as possible. "If you perform the surgery alone, there's a possibility that you make a mistake and damage your son's brain. I do not doubt your capabilities, but we cannot take any risks."

"Then help me. If we need money, we'll take donations. But we have to try, for humanity's sake."

Again, silence. This man for once sounded desperate, but if they were to take Neuren's video literally, everyone would be like that. That's probably the reason no one dared to interfere; either that or they thought that quarrel didn't concern them. Finally, Derek answered.

"I will... try. I can't guarantee anything, but I don't want you to blame anyone if this goes wrong."

"I won't, promise."

Derek was still hesitating, but he couldn't back now. He was willing to do the operation, but the thought about something going wrong could not go away from his mind.

* * *

><p>"I think I'm just going to wait before another video. After all, one after another..." Neuren told the worm, after getting to a conclusion. He watched the TV. Unlike other times, nothing interesting was being shown there. Gamers worshipping some fossil, some person being voted the best author ever, a plague simulator game going viral... But not a single thing about the Neurax, or PAX-12 as they liked to call it. He decided that it was the right time to keep evolving. Over the last days, he found a way to see the worm's symptoms without having to evolve previous ones first. Of course, he could only see them, but not evolve them. "That would be too convenient, though…" He didn't modify the software for it. Instead, the program had that option neatly hidden, and he found it out of luck.<p>

Inspecting the symptoms, he decided see first where would the worm go. The only branch that gave him trouble was the Adrenergic Constriction, because that one made people feel better about the worm. That was the exact opposite of what Neuren wanted.

"Adoration… Devotion… Oh, I see you can make people love you, actually. 'Triggers intense rushes of pleasure', I get it. But-…" He froze, suddenly, just after he read the next symptom. "Transcendence…"

He thought that mental manipulation of the host was the last thing that could surprise him, and that was as far as the worm could go, but when he read that symptom, he realized how wrong he was. The words he himself said in the video echoed in his mind, _not even I know the limits of the Neurax's power. _Hoping to understand better, he read it out loud, and made the Neurax hear what it already knew: its own symptoms.

"Overdose of oxytocin and vasopressin forces host into a permanent state of worship / acceptance - treating the Neurax Worm… as an eternal god…" He stared at the screen for some seconds, in silence, mouth half open. He then spoke again. "People don't just love you… you are their god!" But a god is seen as a good thing by everyone. For example people wouldn't sin if they believed and worshipped a god, so they wouldn't dare to hurt other people.

That's the opposite of what he wanted.

"No… No. I got too confused, and I almost forgot." Neuren said, shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts. "I've already said this a million times, but I do not want to control people. And of course, _I _wouldn't be their god, but _you._" He signaled to the worm, with hidden contempt. He kept reading out loud the symptoms, trying to decide where to go. "Blindness, Aggression, Confusion, Coma… you really have some basic symptoms, don't you. But, you don't normally see them in a disease. I mean… who wouldn't hate to be blind? Except blind people, that is."

Given the amount of DNA he received every time, he would have to think about his strategy better. Nobody was working on the cure yet, so he had a little time… But he wished he could evolve every symptom he considered effective and interesting. The way this program was fabricated it was not possible, and he couldn't find a way to hack it so he could do whatever he wanted.

He kept reading. Considering how the worm controlled the human brain, he had hoped to see that specific symptom, the only one that could make people understand, and the only one that could grant him his revenge.

"Here it is!" He exclaimed at last, when he found it. He read it out loud with great satisfaction. "Insanity…"


	9. Forced Surgery

**I had the beginning written, I had the end written, I had the middle written, but I didn't know how to put all that together.**

**So with the delay, here's a longer episode.**

**Oh, and last episode, I wanted to say that this fic reached 50 pages already! (50 with this episode, of course)**

* * *

><p>Neuren smiled with satisfaction. The symptom he's been waiting since his plan began. He suffered thanks to his insanity, and now he hoped people would feel the same way. <em>Until it consumes you...<em>

Unluckily for him, it would take a while to get that symptom, especially with the time it takes to infect everyone. To get to the Insanity symptom he would have to go through several others first and he didn't have enough DNA to go straightly to it.

"Let's see… we have five symptoms so far." He began reading them out loud to be sure. _Neural Breach, Cerebral Tendrils, Adrenergic Constriction, Anxiolytic Infusion, and Frontal Mesh._ Except for the branch leading to Transcendence symptom, every other seemed interesting to him, so he couldn't decide which one to evolve first. That is, considering he'd have enough DNA to evolve another branch of symptoms. Insanity wouldn't be recognized by people, or only to uninfected individuals. He began thinking, how could he make the Neurax Worm noticeable and deadly at the same time?

He had more than a year to think about it, so he decided not to worry about that until he got the symptom he desired. Instead, he took a step and evolved to Immaturity.

"Excess serotonin production triggered. Manic episodes lead to increased contact with others and inability to focus." He read out loud the Mania symptom, which was unlocked after Immaturity. "I should wait a little for this one. I think it slows down the cure, but they haven't even begun working on it." The cure progress was still at zero percent. After all, the doctors were trying to find a cure through surgery, and until they saw the results, the cure progress wouldn't increase. "But why are they hurrying so much? Didn't they all think that you were harmless?"

Neuren stopped to think for a second. When he recorded the video, he said that he didn't know the limits of the Neurax's power. He always kept the worm inside a cylinder, barely letting it breathe. Considering how infectious it was, he didn't want to end up being infected as well. But thinking he could have the same symptoms as everyone else…

He shook his head. He shouldn't feel empathy or sympathy for those people. To him, that meant weakness; hesitation in his plan was defeat. Every option was critical, and decisive. He knew people would try anything they could to survive; his task was to successfully eliminate the human race before they could counterattack.

Still, he was uneasy at the possibility he could be infected. There was no way for the worm's eggs to get through the cylinder, and there was no way he could be infected unless he made contact with someone from the outside world. He specifically chose a job in which he could work at home, and he paid for food delivery. That was until he realized that there could be people infected that made contact with his food, and so he began to disinfect everything he ate with non-toxic disinfectants, most of them homemade. Yes, the food tasted terrible, but as long as he could digest it, it didn't matter. Just then he remembered the drug resistance abilities. For a second he thought about not eating ever again, but he knew that he would have to survive to see the end of the world. And then he stopped caring about an infection. He didn't seem to have any symptoms, considering the worm didn't control his thoughts (and since he could control his anger outburst when he was younger, he believed the worm couldn't control him enough to hide the infection). He believed that, even if the worm is strong against drugs, the eggs aren't as much, and so his disinfectants were working. If this hypothesis was true or not, he decided to not pay attention to it any longer; if he ended up infected with the Neurax Worm, when he evolved more symptoms he would be aware of it.

"I should be buying cans…" He said quietly. Anarchy was undoubtedly going to happen, and he would have to be ready for it.

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><p>Derek Thompson and Darryl Bergström, another doctor who was at the meeting, were attending Darryl's son, looking for positive results of PAX-12. They both looked at him in sadness while all the results showed the infection. The Neurax Worm was there, and that was the undeniable truth.<p>

Now, they began their plans to successfully extract it, and cure the young kid. Considering how the worm could resist even the most powerful drugs, they decided to weaken it with anesthesia, and cautiously extract it. The kid seemed scared about the operation, and he wanted to refuse, but his father insisted, and even scolded him when he tried to argue. He was being forced into an operation he didn't want to go through, and he didn't even feel bad with the worm. But Darryl thought they were slowly running out of time, and wanted to get it done as soon as possible.

They were in the operation room. The kid was already going through the effects of anesthetics, and was slowly drifting into sleep. The doctors were watching him, and readied themselves for the surgery.

First thing they saw when they opened the kid's skull was the worm, and they were left wondering how it could be so harmless if it was resting on the brain like that.

"We have to do it." Darryl said, looking at Derek straight into his brown eyes.

"Remember our deal: if something goes wrong, you will not blame me, you will not drag me into it. I'm just helping you because you insisted on it, alright?"

Darryl nodded with understanding. And with that, they began their struggle against the Neurax Worm.

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><p>"What do you mean you've been infected?"<p>

"I know. I'm really curious about when I got this... thing."

"But Sharon, you're too healthy, you never even got colds!"

Caroline and Sharon were speaking over their computers. Caroline convinced her to buy a camera and a microphone, so they were talking to each other like that for the first time. Since Caroline was already living in the USA, she wanted to see her friend's face at least somehow.

They talked about various topics, like how was the weather in each country, how were the family doing, how work was going, and mostly about trends and movies. By the time they ended talking about that, it was already half past one in the morning in Caroline's country, but they didn't care much about it and continued talking in their beds. Sharon remembered she would have to tell her best friend about her disease, and ask her about her condition.

"I know. But right now I'm wondering about two things. How I got this thing, and if I'm the first one to have it. Right now almost everyone seems to have that illness. What about your country?"

"Here? Well, some neighbors are saying things like the Apple$oft convention made people from other countries spread the disease." She said looking up, trying to remember. "Though most of them say it comes from Africa."

"Africa? Why?"

"I don't know, actually. But they say it." She shrugged, as if to express her disagreement with her neighbors.

"Well, if I had to guess... I'd say it comes from England."

"What, there? Are you seriously thinking you were the first one?" Caroline asked. She could not believe someone who cares about her health as much as Sharon would be the first one infected. But for some reason, she had a strange idea that made her feel relieved. Because her immune system was so strong, it could weaken the worm to be completely harmless like it is right now, and when it infects more people it wouldn't get more dangerous. At least that was her version of the events.

"Yes. I mean, it couldn't make sense otherwise." Sharon replied firmly. Caroline couldn't contradict her, so she changed the subject.

"Today I was watching the news. Doctors say that the worm is unpleasant, but harmless. Something like that and that it didn't seem to have any symptoms. Do you think it'll get worse?"

"I think it'll go away, but the faster the better." They made a pause and stared at each other, with understanding in their eyes. Sharon then spoke again. "People here say the same thing. That the virus can't do anything and we shouldn't worry about it."

"We should investigate!" Caroline told her with her usual cheerfulness.

"I... I prefer to leave it to the professionals."

"Oh, you are no fun sometimes, Sharon."

Then, Sharon remembered one thing she forgot to ask her friend. Caroline was about to say something, but she suddenly interrupted her.

"Caroline... are you infected?"

"What?" The question caught her off guard, so for a few seconds she didn't reply, asking herself _with what?_ When she finally understood, she replied. "Oh, PAX-20? I haven't checked myself but I don't feel anything, so I shouldn't be." She replied, and heard Sharon sigh loudly over the microphone.

"That's a relief... but it's PAX-12, not _twenty_." She couldn't help to correct her.

"Ah, whatever, same thing. I should correct you, PAX is not a virus, but a worm." She added, trying to sound wise.

"Whatever, same thing." She replied imitating Caroline's tone, and they both giggled.

The two friends felt silent for some seconds, and after that they resumed their casual conversation. That until they decided to say goodbye hours after.

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><p>"Darryl, his heartbeats are going faster!" Derek said desperately. They were extracting the worm with extreme care, thinking it would be easy. But when they raised it a little away from the child's brain, they saw several lines connecting from the worm's mouth to the inside of the brain, the tendrils. They wanted to cut them off, but they both knew that it wasn't a good idea to leave them there. They began to extract the tendrils, one by one, with extreme care. They didn't know about any way to decrease its size, so this is the best option they had for now.<p>

They extracted the first one, but they didn't notice any changes in the kid's condition. For a few moments they thought that it would work fine, and that they easily found the cure for a harmless but unpleasant disease. The only thing that was left was to wait for Neuren's explanation. But after they began extracting the second tendril, the kid's heartbeats increased, and he began having slight spasms.

"Keep going, Derek! We have to make it. We're not letting him die."

They extracted the tendril with the same care they did with the first one, but as soon as it was outside the brain, a screeching sound echoed in the room. An irritating and terrifying screech.

The sound that announced the kid's death.

"No... Derek, revive him!" Darryl yelled, shooting a glance at the other doctor.

"What?" Derek woke up from his trance.

"Now! Get those!" He signaled to the defibrillator. Derek looked at it, but didn't move. Not because he was afraid, but because he knew it was useless.

"Darryl, listen..." Surprisingly enough, he didn't interrupt. "This is not a heart disease, nor a cardiac arrest. It's a brain disease. That won't work in this situation. I'm sorry." He looked down and sighed, giving time to the other doctor to grieve.

He stared at the child for a few moments, in silence, before he spoke again.

"It is my fault." Huge sorrow overwhelmed him, noticeable on his voice. "How am I going to face my wife now? How am I going to operate anyone again?"

"I..." Derek began speaking, but stopped suddenly. He knew that after this, Darryl wouldn't even be allowed to go to the annual meeting again. He didn't know how would his wife take it, but he believed that it was possible that he couldn't be a doctor again. He didn't want to add more to the pile he was suffering right now, so he stopped himself before saying anything else.

For several long moments, they just stood there, only listening to the deadly screeching sound of the kid's nonexistent heartbeats.

* * *

><p><strong>A medical tragedy<strong>

_(...) Darryl __Bergström__, a __Swedish__ thirty-eight-year-old doctor, performed an experimental surgery on his eight-year-old son, Jack __Bergström__, who was confirmed to be a victim of PAX-12. The operation was performed with an anonymous doctor, but Darryl chose to hide and protect their name._

"So they finally did it." Neuren said, looking at a newspaper article through the internet. Looking at the title, he was curious to know what happened. On a lucky guess it was about the Neurax.

_Jack __Bergström__, unfortunately, perished on the night of September, 30th. He died in the operation room, when his father tried to extract PAX-12 from his brain._

"Hey, Neurax, come to see this! Your first victim." He said turning his head to see the worm. "Well, it's not technically yours, but it is because of you."

_According to Mr. __Bergström__, PAX-12 has the shape of a worm, with several vessels going from the worm's mouth to different portions of the brain._

"Vessels? Those are tendrils."

_Upon extracting them, his son's condition began to worsen, until his body finally gave up._

_As for his life after that, it's known that his wife left him with their other children, considering him a danger to humanity. His title was revoked, and now he won't be able to attend any more patients again._

"Oh, you _did_ destroy this man's life."

_Investigation on PAX-12 will continue, but due to the few countries conducting the research, it's expected to take a long time. (...)_

"Well, isn't this interesting." Neuren told himself, grinning. He didn't consider the kid to be the worm's first victim, though. But this was enough to ruin a doctor's life and, apparently, a very famous one in Sweden. But it seems he wasn't as good as people thought him to be.

He stood up and sat again on his sofa. He turned on the TV, and the first thing he saw was something about the dead kid infected with PAX-12. The same he read about in that article. He watched the news, but nothing new showed up. They didn't mention the second doctor, either. Nor the doctor's wife, whose name was hidden for some reason.

He didn't care about them, though. As long as his plan worked, there was nothing to worry about. Considering this turn of events, he decided it would be the right time to record another video, announcing the symptom he just evolved and have a word with that doctor.

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><p>The room was a complete mess of papers and files all over the floor. People in uniform running around, looking for something. They usually aren't this messy, but they couldn't help it this time. One of the officers dropped everything on the floor in accident, and they all were having a hard time reorganizing everything.<p>

Quartz, above all, was yelling angrily at the newcomer who created it. This was his first time at work and he wanted to do it right, but he messed up.

And while they all were running around, they all stopped suddenly when one of them called. They all turned to chief Quartz to bring him the news. Not the one about the kid's death, but another one far stranger.

Another one of Neuren's videos appeared, and they had to see it right away.

"Just you wait." Quartz said to the newcomer. "I'm still not done with you."

He sat down in a chair surrounded with other curious officers, all of them standing up. A laptop was ready for him, and the video was fully loaded. Before hitting play, he turned around to one of the officers.

"Did you find anything?" He asked.

"No, sir..." The officer said, shaking his head. "I tried to track him with everything I had, but it was impossible."

Without replying, Quartz turned his head to the screen and hit play. Just like last time, the man's face was covered in darkness, outlined with a dim blue light, and the worm just beside him.

"I see you've followed my advice..." Neuren said, smiling once again. But Quartz couldn't see his expression.

This time, he kept silent until Neuren stopped talking. He didn't want to miss anything.

"But why would you trust someone like me? I created this worm. I use it to infect people. I'll use it to kill people. Yet off you go, following my orders and ruining your own lives."

_What is he talking about?_ Quartz thought, but he forced himself to stay silent and listen to the rest.

"That kid... Jack, isn't it? Luckily he had a simple name anyone could remember. But that doctor went and followed my advice, and operated that kid. He ended up dying, just as I predicted it would. But the worst part is that the kid was his son, and his wife left him, and he can't work as a doctor anymore. I hope you remember me now, Darryl Bergström; you, me and the Neurax Worm, we all ruined your life."

_This is definitely a taunt for that doctor..._ Quartz thought. He lit a cigarette, and began smoking.

"You realize now that the Neurax Worm cannot be taken off. The _vessels_, as you called them, slowly leave the person's brain, damaging everything on its surroundings. Something like this was obviously going to happen. And you remember I'm no doctor, but even I know that."

_How long will he keep talking about it?_

"But then, where is the cure? You don't care that much about the Neurax Worm yet, so you shouldn't worry. You should worry about Immaturity instead... Oh, what is it, you might ask? Don't worry, you'll see it in PAX-12 patients soon. But it's here where we say goodbye, for now."

The video stopped abruptly, and Quartz gave himself a break from his own silence.

"Okay, I understand that this Newton..."

"Neuren." Interrupted one of the officers.

"Right. This Neuren taunted the former doctor Darryl Bergström. He probably made this video for that purpose."

"But why, sir?" Another officer asked.

"I don't know, but if they know each other, that could be a clue. I want someone to inspect Mr. Bergström_'s_ family, friends and even people he barely knew. If you ever find someone who could be a suspect, find enough proof and question him."

Three officers replied with a "Yes, sir!" and scattered in different directions. If Neuren took special time to taunt that doctor, it's possible that they have known each other some time ago and they had a grudge against each other.

"Now, as for that symptom… What could it be?" He asked in a low voice, as he looked at the screen again swallowing the smoke from his cigarette. One of the officers who remained stepped forward, and faced his chief.

"Sir, I think this video is a little... old."

"Old?" He echoed, with the cigarette still on his mouth.

"It was recorded just after Mr. Bergström's son died, sir. It's been a week after that."

"Oh." Quartz said like he barely cared about it. Why was that important, anyway? He saw the video, after all, but they were so busy that they couldn't see it until that day. And above all, the video wasn't meant for him, but to the doctors and especially to Darryl. It provided a clue, nevertheless, to Neuren's connections to other people.

Just as he was thinking that, suddenly, an officer burst into the room, screaming desperately.

"Chief Quartz! Sir!" He called out. Quartz stood up quickly and faced the officer.

"What is it?"

"It's Darryl Bergström, sir." He said, trying to catch his breath. "We've received a phone call from his daughter. She said he's been found dead in the bathroom of his old house. A letter confirmed it, sir; he committed suicide!"


End file.
